Dark Energy: The Mortal Fracture

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE EXPERIMENT

Experiment Log - Day 1

The incubation of the antibodies began at 0600 this morning. This process exposed the purified antibodies to a warm and humid environment that was set at 4 degrees C for a period of 12 hours. While incubating the antibodies, live stellate cells were extracted from my own liver using a standard biopsy needle. These cells were colonized and prepared for further analysis and experimentation. Dr. Wasi also prepared the Vitamin A serum which included a compound of retinol and deoxycholic acid. The solution ratio of retinol to deoxycholic acid enzyme solution was set at 450 units per 100ml of retinol, which has been the standard for Vitamin A absorption experiments in the past.

At 1900 the stellate cells were exposed to the purified antibody serum and allowed to colonize for six hours. At 0130 the new colony of stellate cells was exposed to the initial Vitamin A serum. The results were negative, as the treated stellate cells did not demonstrate any improvement in Upper Intake Levels of Vitamin A, and ruptured once the known upper intake level had been reached.

Experiment Log - Day 2

In an attempt to overcome the initial problems experienced with the stellate cells’ acceptance of the canine antibodies, we have decided to utilize the process of electroporation assisted stem cell therapy to see if this will force my stellate cells to accept the antibody serum. The electroporation process was used to weaken the cell membranes of the harvested stellate cells using electrical field strength of 1kV/cm and a pulse frequency of 40kHtz. Once the cell wall had been weakened, the antibodies were injected directly into the cell and the cell was treated with a stem cell solution. The treated cells were then allowed to recover and colonize in an incubation tray set at 4 degrees C for 24 hours.

Experiment Log - Day 3

At 1200 the stem-cell treated stellate colonies were segregated into five test groups. Each test group was exposed to a different concentration of Vitamin A and the absorption enhancing enzyme solution at intervals of eight hours over a 48 hour period.

Experiment Log - Day 5

The results from the experiments showed that the electroporation assisted stem cell therapy was effective. Upper Intake Levels for Vitamin A were increased up to 10 percent, but terminated at 15 percent. While it seems like we are on the right path, the fatal threshold still seems to be reluctant to move significantly. We are going to try changing the deoxycholic acid solution to 600 units per 100ml of retinol to see if this will assist with increasing the absorption capabilities of human stellate cells.

Experiment Log - Day 19

After two weeks of trial and error, it seems that the solution of supportive enzymes needs to be administered every eight hours and ongoing stem cell therapy also needs to be administered to support the treated stellate cells’ development. Once the initial parent cells have replicated and have been replaced by four generations of modified cells, the stem cell therapy can be discontinued.

Tomorrow human trials begin.

#

The Laboratory – January 2011

Sade and Wasi hovered over a Petri dish that contained the responsive stellate cells. While the experiments had been successful at inducing an increased absorption rate of Vitamin A in a clinical setting, there was still no way of telling if the same results would be possible to replicate in a human test subject. Both Sade and Wasi knew the risks. If the treatment was not effective in a living host, then failure could result in serious illness or death. However, on the other hand, if it was successful then the outcome could mean the simultaneous realization of both of their professional dreams and nightmares.

“I still think that we need to conduct more clinical tests before moving on to human trials,” Wasi said cautiously.

“We don’t have time. We don’t know when things are going to…change. I need to know if this will work.”

“Okay let’s do it then. I’ll be the guinea pig,” he said volunteering for the risky mission.

“No,” she objected. “It makes more sense to use me. It was my liver cells that responded to the treatment so we know my genetic makeup is compatible with the treatment. Also, I’m smaller. My body will respond to the treatments at lower levels of the vitamin serum than yours. It is less risky.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. You have more medical training than I do. What if something goes wrong?”

“If something goes wrong it is better that it happens to me. I’ll be a lot easier to carry out of here than you, and besides, I’ve been preparing for this moment for almost a decade. It’s supposed to be me.”

#

Before the human trials could begin Sade was put through a number of physical tests to collect a baseline of biological data that could be used to measure the results against. Wasi was in charge of conducting these basic tests which included taking her weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and testing her visual acuity and low-light vision sensitivity. As Wasi completed each test, he documented the results and observations. Then he became silent as he took her temperature.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked.

“I need to know about your…cycle,” he said, more embarrassed that he was uncomfortable asking about this, then he was about hearing her response. “One of the side-effects of hypervitaminosis A is changes in your menstrual cycle, so we need to document what is normal for you.”

“I’ll fill that part out,” she said as she took the clipboard from a relieved Wasi. She made her notes, flipped the papers over and handed them back to him.

Wasi reviewed the notes and calculated the initial dosage of the retinol serum for her current body size. He looked tentatively towards her and asked, “So, are you ready?”

“As ready as I ever will be,” she replied.

“You better change.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” she said as she left the laboratory.

Wasi formulated the serum and retrieved all of the medical equipment that would be needed for the first stage of trials. As he did this he wondered if he was ready for the results of the human trials. Failure would most likely result in her death, but success would most likely also produce the same outcome. The only difference would be that one death would be his fault and the other wouldn’t. Despite this difference, he still didn’t know which would be the better outcome.

#

Sade returned to the laboratory in an exam gown. She climbed up on the table and laid down on her back. Wasi approached her with a needled syringe, “Are you sure you are ready for this?”

“Yes,” Sade said as she pulled up the exam gown to expose her torso.

Wasi bled the needle of air bubbles, “This should take the edge off the procedure,” he said injecting the numbing agent into her pale skin. Grabbing the biopsy needle he asked her, “So what do I do?”

She put her right hand under her head and let her elbow hang out to the side.

“Feel along the bottom of my rib cage to find the bottom two ribs. The needle needs to be fed between them and into my liver.”

Wasi’s fear of gaining too much intimate knowledge about her was realized when he saw the old jagged scar that crossed her abdomen. He looked into her eyes searching for an answer to the question he didn’t want to ask.

“I’m ready, go ahead,” she assured him.

Wasi pulled the ultrasound machine over to the table and returned his attention to her exposed skin. He ran his fingers over her ribcage trying to find the right insertion point for the needle. As he felt out the bottom two ribs he found the target location and inserted the long needle through her skin, navigating between her ribs and directly into her liver using the sonogram to chart his course.

“Bingo, we have contact.” He injected the treated stem cells and removed the needle. “All done, so now what?”

“I need to lie here for a while so that we can avoid bleeding complications.”

“Okay,” he said as he pulled down her exam gown. “What happened?” he asked as he sat down next to her.

#

Antarctica – The Accident – 2004

Kim and Sade each held one handle of a ten-gallon bucket. They strained against the weight of the material that was held by the container. “Oh, my god this is heavy. It must have a high concentration of iron,” Sade said as they passed through the threshold to a cleaning room.

“Where do you want it?” Kim asked as he looked around the room.

“Um, in the sink I think. Then we won’t have to move it again.”

They worked together to move the bucket to the sink. “Ready?” she asked as she looked at Kim.

“One, two, three…” Kim counted down as they swung the bucket in unison before using the centripetal force to heave the bucket up and over the side of the sink.

The bucket landed in the base of the stainless steel sink with a loud thump. Kim and Sade doctored their strained muscles by stretching and shaking their limbs. Sade grabbed a rubber apron from a coat rack, pulled it over her head and secured it around her waist. She then pulled on a pair of large rubber gloves, completing the ensemble.

“So are you ready to get dirty?” she asked playfully.

Kim looked around the room anxiously.

“Um, I forgot something. I’ll be right back,” he said before leaving the room.

“I won’t hold my breath,” she said as she moved to the sink. “Why do men always leave right before there is work to be done?”

Grabbing a metal tumbling drum from the shelf, she filled it with a handful of the micrometeorites and dirt that had been collected on the ice field. She shook the mixture around in the drum to level it out and then added another handful of the material. Then she turned on the hot water tap and waited for the steam to rise from the sink before she grabbed the sprayer and positioned it in the drum. As the clock on the wall struck 0900, she gripped the spray nozzle and released a strong spray of hot water.

The hot water entered the tumble drum and it blasted away the dirt and ice matrix that held the pellets of micrometeorites together. As the micrometeorites were broken loose from their matrix, they dissolved and reacted with the hot water. In less than one second the material within the drum was vaporized as the extraterrestrial minerals released their stored energy and exploded from their containment. This explosion ripped through the drum and the sink throwing Sade across the room, impaling her with shrapnel.

Sade’s scream penetrated the interior of the research center and soon Kim, Martin, and Necalli rushed to the cleaning room to find her pinned against the wall and lying in a bloody pool.

“Hang on, baby,” Martin said as he fell to his knees and stroked her face.

“We have to get her out of this room,” Necalli said as the remaining particles of the matrix exploded in the puddle of water under the destroyed sink. He reached down to pick her up, but Martin pushed him aside.

“I’ll carry her. Where can we go?” Martin asked.

“The barracks,” Necalli directed.

Kim’s face was pale from the shock of what he saw. The metal protruding from her abdomen was heavy and it dug itself deeper into her flesh as Martin lifted her. The blood that dripped from her body was peppered with beads of the meteorite minerals that she was cleaning.

Martin staggered out into the hallway with Sade in his arms.

“In here,” Necalli directed.

#

Sade’s Cabin - 2011

“I was five months pregnant and he didn’t know. I didn’t want to tell him because it would have meant missing the winter season at the research center. The worst part was that I wasn’t afraid of being without him for six months, the man I was supposed to be in love with, but I was afraid of being away from my research. Sounds selfish, right?” she asked.

“No, just driven,” Wasi responded.

“Driven? Whatever it was, it cost me everything.”

“We should probably turn in,” Wasi said trying to change the subject to something less personal. “Tomorrow is not going to be easy.”

“Nothing worthwhile ever is,” Sade responded.

Wasi helped her to sit up and to get off the table. They left the laboratory turning off the lights and initiating the security system. After the lab was dark and empty a green light flashed on and beeped and whirled. Then a red laser beam scanned the room probing every inch for hidden secrets.

#

The next morning the injection regime began. Every eight hours Sade was injected with a Vitamin A serum that contained both retinol and the absorption enzyme. There were two thresholds that Wasi and Sade were trying to surpass, the chronic toxicity level of 4,000 UI/kg of body weight per day and the acute toxicity level of 25,000 IU/kg of body weight. To reduce the chances of an acute toxicity attack, the pair decided to start Sade out with a dosage of 3,000 UI/kg body weight and to gradually build up the concentration of retinol in the serum until side effects were experienced. When negative side effects were experienced, such as blurred vision or nausea, then the dosage concentration would be held steady and the deoxycholic acid supplement would be increased. This process would continue until her low-light visual acuity was improved to the Arctic predator level. In tandem with the injection schedule, Sade was also subjected to a 14 day series of stem-cell treatments that would introduce the antibody into her system.

At the beginning of each new experiment day, Sade underwent a blood test for retinol levels, a low-light visual acuity exam, and a physical screening for weight changes and other signs of hypervitaminosis A. The first few days were uneventful. Sade received stem cell treatments at the end of the day, and three intramuscular injections of the graduated Vitamin A serum. On the morning of the fifth day of injections, however, when the dosage of retinol had been increased to a daily total of 4,000 UI/kg body weight, something changed.

#

It was 0300, the hour that Sade was used to waking up to deal with Wasi’s sleeping abnormalities, however, this morning what woke her was not Wasi, but a sharp pain in her abdomen. The cramping was so severe that it made her sick. She stumbled from her bed and staggered into the bathroom.

Hanging herself over the seat of the toilet, she allowed the room to spin around her. The toilet seat was cold against her skin, and while it gave her a little relief from her nausea, the smell of the stale water in the bowl pulled at her gag reflex. She fell back away from the toilet and leaned against the bathtub trying to hold in her discomfort. She pulled herself to her feet and fumbled for the door on the medicine cabinet. As she opened it, the door fell off and crashed into the sink.

“Shit,” she said as she tried to heave the heavy door back onto its hinges.

In her weakened state, she was unable to reattach the door to the cabinet’s frame so she allowed it to fall to the floor and shatter in resigned defeat. The noise alerted Wasi, and he rushed to her room.

“Sade, are you all right?” he asked as he followed the trail of light that snaked from the bathroom into the bedroom. He found Sade leaning haggard against the sink with the mirrored medicine cabinet door broken on the floor. “Are you all right?” he asked again.

Sade splashed cold water on her face and on the back of her neck. She grabbed a towel and dried off the water.

“Yeah, I’m just a little nauseated,” she said.

“Let’s get you back into bed. I want to check your levels.” He reached out and offered his help, “Watch out for the broken glass.”

After getting her into bed safely, he left to retrieve his medical equipment. Within a minute he returned from the kitchen with a bag of medical supplies and quickly went about drawing her blood, checking her heart rate and blood pressure, and evaluating her overall physical condition.

“How do you feel?” he asked as he collected his data.

“Lousy,” she said as she pulled the covers up around her neck. “I’m freezing.”

“That’s because you’re running a low-grade fever, 101 degrees. Do you think this is from the treatments or does it feel more like a virus?”

“I never get sick,” Sade responded.

“Here, take this,” he said as he handed her two capsules of ibuprofen. “I’m also going to give you a shot of the deoxycholic acid without the retinol to see if that helps.”

“Okay.”

Wasi measured out a dose of the absorption enzyme and injected it into her arm. “Do you think you’ll need anything else?” he asked.

“No, I’ll try to sleep it off,” she said as she pulled the blankets up around her neck.

“Okay, let me know if the symptoms get worse. I’m going to run your blood panel now to see what’s going on,” he said as he reluctantly brushed the hair away from her eyes. Things were changing and this terrified him.

#

A few days went by and the symptoms remained ever-present, but Sade lied so that the retinol concentration would continue to be increased. Over the next week, the retinal daily dosage scheduled increased from 4,000 to 9,000 UI/kg of body weight. While Sade claimed that she was doing all right, and that the side effects were milder than they actually were, the physical signs of her true condition were telling of chronic hypervitaminosis A.

#

Sade entered the kitchen with as much energy and enthusiasm as she could muster, but her physical deterioration was palpable. Wasi was sitting at the table already eating a bowl of hot cereal when she entered the room. He watched her movements and could see that she was experiencing severe joint pain and balance problems. He abandoned his bowel at the table and walked over to her.

Placing his hand on her shoulder he asked, “What’s going on?”

Nothing,” she said trying to force a smile and a positive quip in her tone.

“If this is going to work you can’t keep anything from me. I need to know if you are experiencing any side effects. Now, what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, just a little joint pain and blurred vision.”

“Should we stop the experiments?” he asked, unsure what should be done.

“No, we both know that quitting is not an option…I need to see Kim, he might have an idea about what to do.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not now,” he said. “I think you should spend the day in bed resting. Maybe that will help. I know you haven’t been sleeping much.”

“I’m not tired.”

“I’ll give you something to help you sleep before I head into town for a supply run.”

The room spun around and her stomach cramped into a tight fist urging her to agree begrudgingly, “Okay.”

#

Anchorage Zoo - 2011

Wasi arrived at the employee entrance at the zoo and entered into Martin’s office self-righteously.

“Is he in?” Wasi asked the receptionist.

“Yeah, go on in, he’s expecting you.”

Wasi entered Martin’s office and closed the door behind him. Martin looked suspiciously at Wasi, “Where is Sade?”

“She’s not feeling well so I told her to stay home and take it easy while I picked up what we needed,” Wasi said as he sat down opposite of Martin.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, she’s just feeling a little under the weather,” he responded.

“Sade doesn’t get sick and she doesn’t take orders.”

“You know I hate to argue with you, but she’s got a fever, sore joints and fatigue, that means that she’s sick. Secondly, she wanted to come into town but I told her that she needed to rest. Despite what you may think about her stubbornness, she agreed that I was right.”

“We’ll see,” Martin retorted cynically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll see. She’ll find a way. She always finds a way.”

Martin studied Wasi’s demeanor trying to decode what was really going on back at the cabin. Confident that his curiosity would soon be quenched by Sade’s actions, he prodded Wasi with a predictable question, “So what did you need from me?”

“I have a list,” Wasi said as he handed it to Martin.

#

Sade’s Cabin – 2011

Back at the cabin, the sleeping pills that Wasi had given her had only succeeded in making her jittery and hypersensitive. The feeling of bugs crawling under her skin only exasperated her resistance to being inactive, and Sade wrestled with her blankets, which felt as if they were made of lead. She struggled against them to change position in the bed kicking and bucking under their weight to find a comfortable position. Finally, the agony of being in bed without anything to do aggravated her enough to revolt. She kicked at the blankets and fought against her joint pain to sit up. Slipping her feet into her slippers, she shuffled into the bathroom like an old woman.

Looking into the mirror she examined her physical appearance. Her skin was dry and scaly, her hair was limp, and there were dark circles under her eyes. While she had never spent a great deal of time worrying about her appearance before, she still had a few beauty tricks up her sleeve. Besides personal vanity issues, however, her drive to improve her appearance also had a more practical motivation. It was important to hide any signs of illness from third parties, as they would be a sure sign that she was experimenting on herself. Martin in particular would know that something was up if he saw how she looked right now. He knew she never got sick, not even seasonal colds. Yes, something had to be done, she thought as she carefully opened the new cabinet door that had only been recently replaced.

Prodding around the shallow shelves inside the cabinet, she retrieved a facial mask and a jar of moisturizing cream. She applied the mineral oil-based exfoliant to her face in a thick layer. Then she filled the tub with hot water. The steam from the hot water quickly filled the room and fogged up the mirror. Slipping into the water, she rested in the warmth and comfort of its embrace. This relieved her jitters and finally provided her with a moment of peace and satisfaction.

#

Antarctica – 2004

On top of the South Pole sat an unremarkable building. The cold and dark held this building hostage, isolating it from the rest of the world with geographical barriers. The winter sky spread across the area presenting billions of years of stellar history on a projection screen that would put even the best high definition technology to shame.

Only six people made up the winter-over team at the observatory. Two of these individuals were Martin and Kim. Their roles were to take care of the equipment, collect winter data sets for the researchers who only came down during the summer months and to work on their own projects. For two months they were self-sufficient and completely reliant on the supplies and protective functions of the center. It was a difficult undertaking, but one that had its own rewards.

“How’s it going, Kim?” Martin asked as he entered the observatory room.

“Same as always,” he replied without taking his glance from the telescope’s monitor. “Just waiting for a miracle.”

“Well I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Martin said as he handed Kim a sandwich.

Kim took a bite and prodded Martin, “How’s it been without the old ball and chain?” he asked, referring to Sade.

Martin sat down at a computer and retorted, “I could ask you the same thing,” referring to the same woman.

A soft alarm beeped on Martin’s computer. He glanced down at the screen not expecting to see anything significant, but to his surprise, a series of radiological readings were streaming across his screen.

“Kim,” he said in an unnaturally sedate tone, “Shift the telescope 26.23 degrees to the southwest.”

“What do you have?” he asked as he reprogrammed the telescope to the new coordinates.

“I don’t know yet,” Martin said as he retracted the shield from the exterior windows.

Martin searched the skies for signs of what the readings indicated, but nothing out of the norm was visible.

“Do you see anything out there?” Kim asked.

“No, what about you?”

Kim looked into the large central telescope to get a visual on the source of the radiation anomaly.

“Just a second…I think I see…” Kim screamed in pain as a burst of vibrant radiation sped past the field of view of the telescope and streamed towards the Earth.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Kim said as he rubbed his eyes.

“What did you see?” Martin asked still pinned to the glass pane.

“I don’t know, but it was close,” he said as he joined Martin at the window and pressed his hands against the glass. “We should be able to see it over there.”

As the men looked outside, they saw a dot of light appear in the black Antarctica sky.

“There!” Kim said as he pointed out the source of light.

“What is it?”

“I think it is a supernova echo,” he explained as he entered commands into the computer system.

“Kim?” Martin said with a voice that was filled with concern, “It’s getting bigger.”

“What?” Kim said as he returned to the glass.

Both men watched as the pinpoint of light grew larger and larger. The computers in the observatory went ballistic as data streamed in and alarms went off. The radiation that was being picked up by the sensors indicated that something was accelerating the radiation waves. The speed that they were traveling at was approaching light speed and from the rate of acceleration they were about to surpass this unbreakable law of universal physics.

“This can’t be happening?” Martin said as he reviewed the data. “It’s going to break the speed of light.”

“That’s impossible,” Kim replied.

“I know.”

“What happens when the speed of light is surpassed?” Kim asked.

“I don’t know…checkmate?” Martin joked. “When will the speed of light be surpassed?”

“In ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…”

The men retreated into silence and watched the sky. At the moment when the radiation was theoretically supposed to surpass the speed of light, a burst of energy was released and the light from the speeding radiation was extinguished. The monitors went cold and the power within the observatory clicked off.

“Oh, shit,” Martin said as he braced for something, bad.

“What now?” Kim asked.

“Hang on.”

The sky lit up with a flash of white light as the energy wave blasted through the atmosphere. The observatory rocked and shook, waking up the other winter-over team members.

“What’s going on?” one asked as he staggered into the observation room in bare feet.

As the movement subsided, the team scrambled to get the power back on. The temperature inside the observatory was already dropping in response to a lack of artificial heat. The window began to ice over. The sound of the generator being prodded back to life could be heard throughout the silent building. The darkness inside the building replicated the darkness outside and it was difficult not to be consumed by it.

“How’s the power coming?” Martin yelled to the team working on the generator. He was anxious to see if the data about the event had been recorded or if it had been erased by the power failure.

“Just a second there’s a fried line.”

“Damn it!” Martin cursed as he slammed his fist down on the table in frustration.

Outside the darkness of winter was replaced by a flash of colored light. First, a blue streak squiggled down from the atmosphere, then a yellow streak, then amber, and then green. The light streaks increased in frequency and quantity and soon the sky was filled with a Southern Aurora Borealis with an intensity that had never been seen before.

“Are you seeing this?” Kim asked as he filmed the event through the glass using a handheld digital camera.

A loud roar of diesel engine testosterone broke through the stillness inside the observatory and power spilled into each corner of the research pod. As the computers rebooted, data once again streamed on the screens.

“We got it!” Martin screamed as he slapped Kim on the back.

“We got it, ha ha!” Kim celebrated.

“I have to get outside,” Martin said. “Quick, get your gear. We have to be a part of this.”

Outside the safety of the observation station, the two men were vulnerable to the elements and cold, but they were oblivious to the dangers that were poised to kill them. They stood enchanted by the dancing light show that played out on the icy stage before them.

“This is amazing!” Kim yelled to the sky as the lights reflected off of his protective goggles.

#

Sade’s Cabin – 2011

Sade stood in front of the mirror peeling off the dried facial mask, exfoliating the layer of dead skin cells that had been executed by the experiment. This process helped to reverse some of the physical damage to her face, but she still did not look well. As she applied a layer of moisturizing cream to her face, she could feel a twinge of pain contracting in her stomach. She stepped back from the sink and bent over, clutching her stomach and trying to force the pain out of her body by sure will power. The pain peaked and subsided and Sade heaved a sigh of relief.

She stood up and straightened the bathroom, but as she leaned over to grab the bathmat that was suctioned to the bottom of the tub, the hand supporting her body weight slipped and she crashed into the basin.

“Damn it,” she said as she struggled to regain control of her body and to climb out of the slippery tub.

As she sat on the floor with her heart pounding, she felt a sharp pain in her right wrist. She grasped it and could feel that the bone was broken and displaced. She was afraid to look at it so she just wrapped it in the belt from her bathrobe and crawled out of the bathroom.

#

Martin’s Office

Wasi was inventorying the supplies offered to him by Martin when his phone rang. Martin smiled with a predictive knowledge of who was on the other end of the line.

“Guess who that is,” he said as he packed more supplies into a box.

“Hello,” Wasi said as he answered his phone. “Where are you now?...Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Anything wrong?” Martin asked.

“Sade’s had an accident and she’s at Anchorage General Hospital.”

“Do you mind if I come along?” Martin asked with a concerned look.

“Can I stop you?”

“No, you can’t.”

#

Anchorage General Hospital

Kim was asleep when Sade entered his room. She sat down next to his bed and placed her head on his outstretched hand. The touch of her skin on his woke him from his sleep. He looked over at her half asleep.

“I was just dreaming about you,” he said sleepily.

Sade smiled, “It is nice to hear your voice again. When did they take out the breathing tube?”

“A couple of days ago. You would know that if you bothered to call.”

“I’m sorry.”

“How are things going?” he asked as he raised the mechanical bed to a sitting position. “Jesus Christ, you look like hell,” he said as he got his first clear look at her.

“The experiment isn’t going well,” she said revealing her current status of vulnerability.

“I can see that,” Kim responded taken aback by her uncharacteristic revelation of personal weakness and uncertainty.

“I’m showing all the signs of systemic toxicity, yet I’m not experiencing any of the positive effects of the increased absorption levels of retinol. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” Sade searched Kim’s face for some sign that he had an answer that would solve all her problems.

“What’s your daily intake now?” Kim asked trying to figure out what part of the process was holding things up.

“About 9,000 UI per kg of body weight.”

“Have you increased the deoxycholic acid?”

“Yes, we’ve pushed that limit as well.”

“Maybe you just need time to allow your body to make the adjustments,” Kim said soothingly.

“We are running out of time. If I don’t push the timeline I’m not going to make it to the finish line before Martin pulls the metaphorical plug.”

“Okay, so focus on symptom control. When my grandmother was going through chemotherapy for liver cancer she used electro-acupuncture to help alleviate her nausea and pain. At the very least it will help to make things bearable during the trials.”

Wasi passed through the doorway into Kim’s room. “I thought I told you to stay in bed.”

“She doesn’t take commands well, do you, honey?” Martin said as he entered the room. “Besides, where there’s a will there’s a way.”

“Very funny, I didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident,” Sade said as she looked over at Martin and saw in him a spark of the man she fell in love with long ago. “Don’t look so worried. I slipped.”

“I’m familiar with your slips, and that is why I’m worried,” Martin said as he hugged her.

As she pulled away from him, he noticed how she looked. He stroked her cheek and looked into her eyes, not out of affection, but out of suspicion.

“What have you been doing to yourself?” he asked.

“I’ve been sick,” she said as she pulled on her coat. “Are you ready to go, Wasi?”

“You don’t get sick,” he replied as she left the room.

Martin looked down at his hand and saw that she had left behind a clump of her hair. Examining the hair in his hand, he asked Kim, “Did you tell her?”

Kim slumped down in his bed and turned the television on. “Yeah, I told her.”

“How close is she?” Martin asked as he stared intently at the broken Kim.

“I guess we’ll find out shortly.”

#

Anchorage Acupuncture Clinic - 2011

Sade pulled into the parking lot of a local acupuncture clinic and Wasi pulled in beside her. As they approached the entrance Wasi asked, “What are we doing here?”

“Kim suggested acupuncture to manage my symptoms. I figure it can’t hurt to give it a try.”

The two entered the building and after filling out some paperwork, Sade was escorted to a treatment room in the back. She undressed, pulled on a medical gown and sat down on an exam table.

The acupuncturist entered the room and reviewed the form that she had filled out. He then examined her physical condition, looking at her eyes, reflexes and flow of Qi.

“You mentioned that you are feeling nauseous and lethargic?” he asked.

Sade nodded yes in response to his question.

The acupuncturist continued his examination, “Will you lie down please?”

Sade reclined on the table and the acupuncturist pulled her gown to the side and palpated various parts of her abdomen.

“Does this hurt?” he asked as he pushed around her liver.

Sade convulsed in response to the pain produced by the pressure. The acupuncturist looked at her, “I know what to do for you, Dr. Sade. This will make you feel a lot better.”

The acupuncturist moved fluidly around the room gathering supplies and preparing the treatment. He then used an alcohol solution to clean off the liver meridian line that ran down the right side of her body. He then inserted a series of needles along this sterile line. Once in place, he connected each needle to a serial circuit which was powered and controlled by an electronic device resting on a wheeled cart. He powered up the device and voltage was sent to each needle stimulating the points along the meridian.

“How does that feel?” he asked.

“Okay, I think.”

He turned up the voltage, “How about now?”

“Still okay.”

He turned the voltage up one final time, “And now?”

Sade squirmed a little under the intense sensations that were streaming through her body, but she soon relaxed.

“Are you okay, Dr. Sade?” the acupuncturist asked. “How do you feel?”

“I’m…okay,” she said as she closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep. “It’s good...”

“Good. Just relax and I’ll check in on you in about a half hour,” he said as he exited the room closing the door behind him.

Sade rested on the exam table as electrical charges ran along the meridian line where the needles had been inserted. As the current danced along this tightrope of energy, she could feel a pressure building in her body. It was as if there was a blockage in her blood vessels, but instead of a blockage in her blood flow, there was a blockage in her Qi energy flow. The more this energy backed up, the more discomfort and urgency she felt for the need to break through the energy dam.

Her mind begged the dam to dissolve as she squirmed under this physical and psychological torment. Just as she was about to jump from the table and pull out the needles, the dam burst and the energy was finally allowed to flood through her body following the channels laid out by her blood vessels. As this river of energy rushed through her veins towards her brain they created an electrical charge in her body that attracted the elusive antibodies that had been pumped into her system and had collected in her tissues. The energy flow carried these antibodies to her brain where they were devoured by its cells and its elusive elixir finally activated.

The antibodies acted as a virus, being taken into one cell, replicating and then infecting others with new programming in the visual cortex of her brain. The stimulation of this process was so overwhelming, that Sade fell into a deep trance state. During this time she traveled through memories and ideas that had long been buried in her unconscious mind and now they seemed to flow through her thoughts like a stream flowing through a valley. New ideas and questions filled her being and she was completely encapsulated with this bliss of curiosity and insight.

The loud beep of a car horn outside of the office brought Sade out of her electrically charged euphoria and back to her senses. She opened her eyes expecting to see the clinic as she left it, however, instead of the normal visions of the objects that populated the room, she saw pulsating halos around certain objects in the room. As she evaluated what she was seeing, she realized she was seeing energy fields.

“Wasi!” she screamed. “Wasi, come in here!”

Wasi and the acupuncturist rushed into the room.

“Is there something wrong?” the acupuncturist asked.

“Can you give us a moment?” she asked as she sat up with the needles still stuck in her body.

“Of course,” he said as he exited.

Wasi looked over at her. “What’s wrong?”

“It worked,” she said, “The experiment worked.”

“What do you mean it worked?”

“It must have been the electrical stimulation. It was the missing piece to activating the biochemical reaction.”

“How do you know it worked?” he said as he sat down in a chair next to the table.

“I am seeing things.”

“Things?”

“Energy fields, I think. It’s actually a bit trippy, but they’re there.” Sade looked at her hand as it moved through the air leaving behind it a trail of plasma residue.

“Are you sure you’re not tripping out? Did they give you anything at the hospital for pain?”

“Yes, but I didn’t take it yet. I know what I am seeing. It’s real.”

“Then I guess we’d better get one of these systems to go.”

#

To be continued...